Leadership is a verb, a doing word, it involves rolling one’s metaphorical sleeves up and getting stuck in. Whilst countless words have been written on the subject, for many people the interface with the practice of leading and managing others takes place on a day-to-day basis in the workplace as they lead their organisations, departments, or teams: Leadership, in short, becomes an activity as well as an academic enterprise. Many practising leaders are ‘accidental leaders’; they have arrived in their position without training or support, often having been promoted through excelling (or at least showing a degree of competence) in their technical field. Leading and managing other people generally requires a different set of capabilities than those required to be an engineer, a clinician or a teacher, and success in the technical sphere is not necessarily an indicator of competency in leadership. Applicants to our Senior Leaders Apprenticeship regularly mention the lack of training or development they have had for the role they find themselves in. Paradoxically, whilst one would ideally learn about leadership before embarking on such a role (in the same way we learn to drive a car before being let loose on the open road), there is much to be gleaned from learning about and reflecting upon leadership when leading: Leadership is developed through the enactment of leadership and that wherever and whenever one starts, there is always more to be learned: Leader development is a lifelong, ongoing process. In the sphere of leadership development, there is much to be said in favour of learning on the job. Postgraduate Apprenticeship and Open programmes in Senior Leadership, such as those offered by the Centre for Executive Training and Development (CeTAD in LUMS) at Lancaster, address just these issues. They enable those in or aspiring to senior leadership roles to study, reflect and apply learning within their workplace – developing their leadership skills in situ, through formally structured and progressive ‘workbased learning’. LEARNING COMES FROM THREE DISTINCT AREAS: First, academic study. Apprentices are expected to read widely and to critically analyse theories and models of leadership through interrogation of texts, articles and wider sources. For many, this will be the first time they will have engaged with much of their study, whilst others may be revisiting ideas they have not explored for some time, seeing them afresh through the lens of experience. Second, the workplace. Leaders come from a wide range of industries, in both private and public spheres, each with their own policies, culture and people. Each is unique, and we find that even people working within the same organisation can have very different working environments which have a bearing on the specificity of their leadership role. Third, the leader’s professional background. All students on our courses have a significant level of leadership and management experience and are expected to draw on this through self-reflection. 36 |
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